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  • About Us
    • Our Story
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    • Join Our Team
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queer asterisk trainings

Our educational trainings explore diversity beyond tolerance with an emphasis on curiosity and bravery, rather than fear and shame, to foster inclusive community cultures. Our rate is $500 per hour and we recommend three-hours for the fundamentals, which include lecture and discussion.

Our Trainings

  • We provide trainings for mental health organizations, social services agencies, schools and universities, hospitals and health clinics, addiction recovery centers, etc.
  • We provide specially tailored curriculum for clinical and administrative staff
  • We provide CEU certificates for all clinicians

“I can’t say enough about Sorin Thomas and Queer Asterisk! Sorin took the time to partner with us and customize the presentation to include our district’s protocol and equity framework. The training was professional, interactive, relevant and very well received by our diverse audience.”

RONALD LEE, PSYD, DIRECTOR OF MENTAL HEALTH, CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS

Our Purpose

Many professional organizations are beginning to recognize the need to better serve queer and transgender individuals and their families. But how can we actually create truly inclusive spaces for queer and trans people to show up authentically, have their experiences validated, and receive the best quality care possible? Our trainings offer a framework to better understand queer and trans identities, adapt inclusive policies and, most importantly, create a culture that is welcoming and healing for all.

We train because we want queer and transgender patients to be able to speak about their presenting problems, and not have to educate providers about the legitimacy of their identity; we want queer and transgender students to be able to learn and grow in safe and nurturing environments, not struggle under the oppressive weight of stigma, microaggressions, and bullying.

Our Pedagogy

Our professional trainings strive to create safe spaces that foster rich dialogues and facilitate a level of knowing and understanding that lectures simply cannot achieve. We include time for integration of material, through case studies and process groups, to facilitate the design and implementation of professional environments that safeguard against oppressive structures and cultures. For many, it is significant to learn this material from a team of queer and transgender educators; our lived experiences tend to ground in reality what might otherwise be considered abstract concepts.

“Our trans and non-binary community members under-access much needed services, including police and emergency care, because they fear being mis-gendered or a target of micro-aggressions and other transphobia. Queer Asterisk's Gender Awareness and Responsiveness training gives BCH staff and providers the knowledge and skill they need to better care for trans and non-binary patients. Staff have been engaged and grateful for these trainings. They also appreciate Sorin's ability to answer the awkward and difficult questions.”

Sarah E. Wise, RN, RN Manager Clinical Practice, Boulder Community Health
Contact Us

Boulder Office

4535 N Broadway
Suite 101
Boulder, CO 80304

(720) 507-6161

Denver Office

1155 Sherman St,
Suite 311
Denver, CO 80203

  (720) 507-6161

Longmont Office

1823 Sunset Place
Suite F
Longmont, CO 80501

(720) 507-6161

Fort Collins Office

23 Old Town Square
Suite 250E
Fort Collins, CO 80524

(720) 507-6161

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Rafi Daugherty

Counselor

he/him

Rafi Daugherty is a Licensed Marriage and Family Counselor Candidate and a graduate of the University of Colorado, Denver. Rafi also holds a masters degree in Crisis and Trauma Studies from the University of Tel Aviv, Israel. As a couples and family therapist, Rafi has been trained to view even individuals as a part of a system and understands that people need to be seen as the whole of who they are and where they come from. Rafi enjoys working with individuals of all ages who are at any stage in the process of acknowledging, accepting, and living in their identities. Rafi utilizes relevant treatments from multiple theories but leans strongly into attachment theory and internal family systems theory. Being transparent with clients is an important aspect of the therapeutic relationship to him and thus encourages clients to stand in their truth when it does not align with his words.

RP Whitmore-Bard​

Program Director

he/they

RP Whitmore-Bard (Program Director) is a queer/trans psychoanalytic psychotherapist and group facilitator. RP earned their Master’s degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy & Buddhist Psychology at Naropa University, and has been involved at Queer Asterisk since its founding in 2016. RP is passionate about creating supportive environments for people to connect authentically with themselves and others. They have worked as a direct care provider with many social services agencies, including Jewish Family Services, Safe Passage Domestic Violence Services, Eating Recovery Center, and Denver County Human Services. As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, and a person in recovery, RP believes that being in touch with legacies of personal and ancestral suffering is a powerful tool for waking up to the transformative healing potential of every moment. RP grew up in New York City, Southern California and Chicago, and loves listening to music, dancing, and spending time in nature.

Chris Aguilar Garcia

Chris Aguilar Garcia​

Operations Director

they/them

Chris Aguilar Garcia is a Queer Chicanx writer and editor with an extensive career in community minded organizations and national LGBTQ nonprofit organizations. They hold a BA from Antioch University Los Angeles in Liberal Studies with a minor in Queer Studies. As Director of Operations, Chris oversees the day-to-day operations of QA, including human resources, facilities, grant management, and fund development. Outside of QA, Chris is a noted scholar of Prince, currently writing a book on the Queerness of Prince, and also serves on the board of The W. They are interested in intersectional identities and BIPOC representation, and obsessed with Frida Kahlo, Madonna, and Almodovar.

Brett Adamek (Freeda Be)​​

Creative Director

all pronouns

Brett Adamek (Freeda Be), MA, LPC is a queer/non-binary transpersonal somatic counselor and embodiment mentor. Freeda received a Master’s in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University and is a co-founder of Queer Asterisk. Freeda supports clients in finding freedom, empowerment and authentic self-expression through increased present-moment awareness of the body and mind. He is passionate about supporting clients of diverse identities and life experiences in discovering liberation in the midst of difficult life circumstances, not in spite of them. As an Asian-American adoptee, Freeda uses his own personal journey of otherness and belonging to support clients in finding home wherever they are.

Sorin Thomas of Queer Asterisk

Sorin Thomas

Founding & Executive Director

xe/xyr/xem

Sorin L. Thomas, MA, LPC, LAC, CGP, Founding and Executive Director of Queer Asterisk Therapeutic Services, is a queer and transgender Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Addictions Counselor, and Certified Group Psychotherapist with over a decade of professional experience in the field of psychology serving queer and transgender individuals and their families. Sorin has a Masters in Somatic Counseling Psychology from Naropa University and post-graduate experience in wilderness therapy, addiction recovery, adolescent and adult residential treatment, community based services, emergency psychiatric services, and hospital settings. In addition to offering queer-affirming counseling and clinical supervision, Sorin offers consultation and diversity, equity, and inclusivity trainings through a queer lens to mental health organizations, addiction recovery centers, social service agencies, hospitals, and schools.

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